Things are never simple, and life is the most complicated
by LFArrianus
Summary: Tony & Steve come face to face with a very clever female with as much sarcasm as Tony. K has many secrets, can the team ever trust her? Steve/K in later chaps there's Frostiron. It's my first OC fanfic and would love reviews. I haven't taken anything from other fic, so any similarities is coincidental. DON'T OWN AVENGERS! Rating due to topics in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I ran into my apartment slamming my door shut. I could feel the burning in my chest from exhaustion, I rushed to the living room grabbing my rucksack and slung it on my back. The crashing was getting closer, I started the reboot on my repulsors, focusing solely on getting full power back to them and not on the sound of my door splintering. As I saw my repulsors start to glow the three droids burst into the room. I quickly calculated their weak points and fired. I fell to the floor on all fours to catch my breath when I heard someone enter the room, I looked up and Sofia stood there smirking down at me,  
'Did you really think you could scam me?' I laughed,  
'I'm not scamming you' she aimed her gun and shot. I felt the burn in my arm and could tell she had just grazed it,  
'Your products failed to take down the avengers, which you had assured me would be the result' I slowly got up and aimed my repulsor at her,  
'I said it could happen if I wanted it to,' I shrugged 'so buyer beware' she grinned at me,  
'You know, I would have thought you a great asset had your designs not failed me' she glanced at her gun then back at me, 'it's too bad really, what you sold me seemed even more advanced than the great Tony Starks technology. Killing such genius will surely gain me many enemies, however judging by the success rate of the avengers against your tech, it'll most likely gain me many allies' I saw my repulsor levels were at fifty percent and I started giggling, 'What's so funny?' I sent a blast straight at her chest and watched as she flew back against the wall and fell in a heap to the floor. I walked over to her slowly, blood trickled from her mouth and I smiled,  
'It's not you I'm scamming.' I heard the ceiling groan and creak, I quickly moved to the very edge of the room pressing myself against the wall as it caved through. Through the dust I saw the red and gold of the Iron Man suit,  
'Hey, who did our job?' I watched as Captain America came through the doorway, I cleared my throat as I stepped forward and they turned to face me in defensive positions. I mockingly raised my hands in mock surrender, there was complete silence as we looked at each other,  
'Who are you?' I looked at the suit, his power levels were at forty three percent and his left repulsor was draining the power at a fairly rapid rate, it would be at less than twenty percent in half an hour,  
'Did you just scan my suit?' the slightly robotic voice barely hiding the surprise, I smirked and folded my arms,  
'I am K, and yes I did' his repulsors whirred which caused his power levels to drop two percent,  
'Why?' I shrugged,  
'Because I can' I heard the Captain let out a small chuckle and I turned to him smiling, 'Do you find something amusing?' he smiled slightly and nodded towards the suit,  
'You seem as arrogant as my comrade there'  
'HEY!' I turned back to the suit,  
'I think you'll find I am definitely less arrogant than Tony Stark' the suit lowered his hands,  
'What are you doing here?' I raised an eyebrow and huffed in irritation,  
'Sofia set the droids on me after they failed to deliver her desired result, rather foolish if you ask me, if I designed them then it would be quite obvious that I would be able to stop them doing something I do not wish to happen, however to stop them I needed my belongings, hence I came here. They weren't as far behind as I had originally believed so I had to take them out instead. She,' I pointed at her body, 'shortly followed them, in more ways than one' I removed my repulsors and placed them in my bag then threw it at the Captains feet. He jumped back,  
'Calm down, just trying to ease the situation by disarming myself' I gave a smile and he slowly grabbed the bags straps, I felt the metal grip round my arm,  
'Fury wants us to bring you in, and for once I'm inclined to agree with the man.'


	2. Chapter 2

I was currently sat in a cell on the hellicarrrier, in an attempt to scare me no doubt. Stark had informed them of me scanning his suit without seeming to use any gadget so I am in a cell with no computer systems -never mind the hellicarrier is reliant on computer systems that I can easily take down. So here I sit, waiting for Fury to come and ask his questions. I can see the CCTV footage for the whole carrier, he's currently yelling at Stark and the Captain, no doubt about me and the fact that they haven't been able to do anything with the contents of my rucksack.  
He was heading down to me now, Black Widow and Hawkeye by his sides. As they stepped into the corridor, I closed my eyes and laid back on the floor, the locks clanked open and I sensed them enter the room,  
'Get up!' I opened an eye and looked at him, all of them trying to appear intimidating, I giggled and sat up, if they were surprised by my actions they hid it well, I looked at the archer and smiled,  
'Who are you?' I looked back to Fury,  
'As I told Stark and the Captain, I am K' he grimaced at me, 'I take it your search on me returned nothing' I gave him a shit eating grin, 'So what can I do for you?'  
'Tell me who you are' I stood up and went to move closer and the archer aimed at me, 'Don't move any closer or I will give him the order. Tell me who you are!' I looked at my nails disinterestedly then smiled,  
'Just another citizen in this fine city' he ground his teeth,  
'Where did you get your weapons?' I shrugged,  
'I made them'  
'I've had enough of this bullshit. Widow get what you can' she smirked at me as Fury and the archer left the room,  
'Are you sure you don't want to tell us what we want to know?' I sighed,  
'I already have' I felt her hand across my face and I glared at her,  
'You will regret that.'


	3. Chapter 3

The door flew open and the archer ran in followed by several agents,  
'Back up and stand against the wall NOW!' I raised my hands; backing away slowly smirking as they pulled the barely conscious widow from the room, Fury stormed in and grabbed me around the throat,  
'WHERE THE HELL DID YOU GET YOUR TRAINING?!' I grabbed his wrist as he started squeezing my throat,  
'What training?' he threw me back as I gasped in air through the laughter,  
'Do you comprehend the situation you are in?!' I noticed the archer wasn't paying full attention,  
'She'll come round in a few minutes, don't worry' I looked back at Fury, 'I don't think you comprehend the situation Stark tells you I scanned his suit without seeming to use any technology and you're keeping me on a hellicarrier that relies on computer systems that I've already hacked. Tell me, which genius came up with that idea?' I raised an eyebrow as Fury grimaced,  
'How do I know you're not bluffing?' Linkin Parks New Divide blasted through the speakers at full volume, Barton shot the speaker but we could still hear it filling the corridor. Fury narrowed his eyes at me,  
'Nice party trick, but Stark does that all the time that we no longer…' he put his finger to his ear, 'What do you mean you're locked out of our systems?' I smiled at him, 'I don't care about your excuses, you have ten seconds to sort this out!'  
'Problem Fury?' I sat on the floor cross-legged,  
'Nothing I can't deal with, I'm not playing anymore games, how are you penetrating our systems?' I shook my head,  
'That's not why I'm here, it's a lot sooner than I originally planned, granted, but still I suppose there's no time like the present'  
'What the hell are you on about?' I rolled my eyes,  
'For a director you're pretty slow, I wish to help the Avengers' he glanced at Barton before glaring at me,  
'And why would I agree to that?' I grinned,  
'You saw what I did to Romanov, Stark and the Captain told you how they found me, you know I could be a great asset to the team'  
'They also told me about your role in designing the droids that destroyed half of downtown New York. Now in what world did you think that would get on the team?' I shrugged,  
'I needed money and scamming villains was the easiest way for me to do it, you should be glad I was the one Sofia came to, it made the battle much shorter with a lot less damage and the only injured party was Starks ego, oh and Sofia' I giggled slightly at the memory of her lifeless body slumped on the floor,  
'Well considering the damage you helped cause the only way you'll be leaving one of my cells is in a body bag. Especially considering your failure to cooperate with me and my team' he and the archer left, the door slamming shut and echoing slightly round the room. I felt the smile tugging at the corner of my mouth, the laughter ripping through me causing me to fall backwards; I sobered myself and stared at the ceiling,  
'Fear is a useless weapon against me Fury.'


	4. Chapter 4

It had been three days, I had stayed lying on the floor staring at the ceiling, and ignoring the bread and water they had been bringing me, staying awake for 72 hours barely causing me issue with my lack of movement.  
I had been watching the hellicarriers occupants via their own CCTV, watched as they failed to understand my technology, as Stark argued with Fury, the angered look on the mans face as the smug billionaire headed to my cell. I sat and looked at the door as it opened, he walked in, his face showing little of his lack of sleep, he waved his hand dismissively at me,  
'No need to get up on my account' he turned to the guard, 'You can stay outside' the guard shrugged and shut the door, I smiled,  
'And to what do I owe this, well I would say honour, but I don't feel it is' he shot me a smirk,  
'I've been watching you' I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, tapping my fingers against my cheek,  
'I know, I've been watching you, among others' he shrugged and grinned,  
'Impressive, considering you have nothing to watch us on. If you're going to lie at least make it believable' I glared at him,  
'Watch your tongue Stark. I have uttered no lie since our first meeting, I have only spoken what is necessary for you to know' he went and sat on the edge of the bed,  
'I've watched the footage of your conversations with Fury. It was pointless asking him if you could join my team'  
'I didn't ask him, I merely told him of my intention. I was aware you would find out about my request one way or another,' I gestured to the room 'and here you sit, just as I wanted' he smirked,  
'So why would I let you join my team?' I stood up and stretched feeling the tension in my joints release, I looked at him, seeing him eye me appreciatively,  
'Because you're intrigued, you are fascinated by my tech that you cannot even turn on, let alone begin to understand. You have no doubt seen the footage of me taking down that pathetic spy woman' he went to talk and I raised my hand for silence, 'and you remember the droids and Sofia, reason enough for you?' I raised an eyebrow at him, he stood up and took a step towards me, smug grin in place,  
'That footage of you and Romanov is currently in my private collection, a nice bit of blackmail against her. You will be transferred to a holding cell in the Avengers tower this afternoon, I will be consulting with you on your tech, after your consultation has finished Fury wants you back in official SHIELD custody' he looked at the tray of untouched bread and water, 'the food will also be more appetising, I don't blame you for not touching that' I went and grabbed the glass and a piece of bread,  
'I rather enjoy bread and water, I just haven't been hungry' I took a bite of the bread and washed it down with a sip of water, I nodded to the door, 'You may leave now, I see no reason for this conversation to continue for now' he sat back down smoothing imaginary creases in his suit,  
'You're in no position to dismiss me' I shrugged as I laid back on the floor,  
'Suit yourself, just keep your mouth shut if you're staying' I closed my eyes to try and rest before my transfer,  
'I can tell you're going to be fun, another feisty girl for a challenge and I do enjoy a challenge' I shoved myself from the floor and shoved him back on the bed straddling his thighs, my hand clasped around his throat,  
'End that thought right there and don't you dare let it return. That is the only warning you will get' I hissed in disgust, the door flew open,  
'Remove yourself from Stark!' I looked over my shoulder to see Fury and twenty agents with their weapons trained on me. I got off him smiling,  
'I had no intention of injuring the oh so delicate Stark, director, if I had you would have been much too late' I helped Stark from the bed and pulled him close to whisper in his ear, 'You have a much higher chance of bedding pirate Pete over there than me, so don't even imagine it, you will be disgusted if you do.' I shoved him toward the door, and smiled at Fury, 'See as healthy as when he entered this cell' they all left and I laid on the floor to get some rest.


	5. Chapter 5

I awoke to someone kicking my foot, I glared at the offender and Stark smirked down at me,  
'Wakey, wakey sleeping beauty, and you are a beauty' I reached out, grabbed his ankle and pulled his leg from beneath him causing him to fall back on the floor,  
'I warned you Stark, I am the one person you will regret flirting with in the future' I carefully stood up and looked down on him, 'You are the one man on this planet I would NEVER consider sleeping with, and for a bloody good reason, so move on already' he got up rubbing the back of his head, the door opened and an agent came in with some hand cuffs, I gave Stark a sardonic look, 'Seriously Stark, I want to be at Avengers tower, why on earth are those necessary?' he smirked,  
'They weren't until you pulled me to the floor, it was part of the agreement I made with Fury' I glared at the agent,  
'I will not be treated like some common criminal, I will only wear those cuffs if you, and only you, are able to get them on my wrists' the agent advanced and reached out to grab my wrist, I grabbed his and twisted it hearing the satisfying snap of the bones, he looked in pain but didn't make a noise, he went to grab me with the other hand and I brought my knee up to collide with his groin. Stark hissed in sympathised pain as the agent pulled away and crouched to the floor dropping the cuffs, I turned to Stark and mockingly held my wrists out,  
'Would you like to try, it's the only time you'll ever have a chance to put me in cuffs' I smirked as Stark shook his head, 'Wise move, now I take it we are taking a jet to the tower' I walked through the door to see several agents lining the corridor, some glancing at me warily others holding their hands in front of their manhood, 'The first sign of any brains that I've seen in a while, you could learn a heck of a lot from these guys Stark' he grabbed my elbow and started leading me through the carrier, pulling his sexy smile at all the female agents that passed.  
As we got on the jet Fury and his entourage came on board, I strapped myself in giving him a challenging smile as I did so,  
'Where the hell are her cuffs!' I glared at him, Stark looked up disinterestedly,  
'Your guy didn't quite manage to get them on her, but if you're willing to try, she's all yours, I am never going to try and cuff that girl, no matter how much I want to' I kicked him in the thigh, close enough to his man parts to cause him panic, his eyes widened slightly as he rubbed his thigh and took a step away from my seat. Fury snarled at him then took a seat,  
'Get this bird in the air!' the doors closed and the jet started moving.  
Throughout the flight Stark and Fury had a hissed conversation, I didn't bother trying to listen, I was getting closer to the team, it was only a matter of time before I became a part of it. I closed my eyes to get some more rest, no matter how fast this jet could travel I know that I would still have at least an hour in this seat.


	6. Chapter 6

'WAKE YOUR LAZY ASS UP!' I slowly opened my eyes to see Fury's one eye glaring at me, I smiled,  
'Well morning to you too darling, travel well?' there was a snort of laughter from Stark, I smiled at him as Fury looked ready to shoot me, 'I can see why you find winding this idiot up fun, his vein really' I pretended to look for a word, 'Pops, don'tcha think?' Stark let out some laughter and pretended to wipe a tear from his eye,  
'Oh god, this was the better way to wake you up, that was pure gold right there' he clapped Barton on the shoulder, 'consulting with her is going to be fun' he wiggled his eyebrows and Barton rolled his eyes. I unstrapped myself and stood up stretching as I did so, I saw Stark staring and I glared at him,  
'I will make it so you can wear your testicles as earrings Stark' Barton leant over and whispered something to Stark smirking as he did so,  
'Yeah but I really love a challenge' I grabbed Starks arm and started twisting it, Barton had his bow armed and aimed in seconds, I stopped twisting and looked at the archer,  
'Impressive speed archer, is it the same in the bedroom, if so not as impressive' I released Starks arm and followed Fury off the jet hearing Stark and Barton bicker behind me, as I stepped into the afternoon sun I squinted at the brightness then quickly took in the sight. The Captain had turned up and the girl assassin was there -wearing a cast on her left arm- the Captain stepped forward,  
'Any problems on route sir?' Stark pushed forward,  
'No problems Capsicle, just Bartons bedroom technique questioned' the Captain looked to Stark,  
'I wasn't asking about you Tony, I wondered if the lady was any trouble?' I smiled at him,  
'Ah, a true gentleman who notices a lady when he see's one,' I shot Stark a glare, 'and doesn't try to get her into bed. I can see the Captain and I shall have no quarrels' I reached a hand out and the Captain took it giving Fury a slightly confused look, 'We met before under a less desirable situation, not that me being a captive is any more desirable but there are no dead bodies or destroyed droids lying around so I believe it has to be a slight improvement' I released his hand and turned to Stark, 'Now how about you show me to that lovely cell you promised me' I nodded to the Captain as Stark led me past.  
Stark stood next to me in the lift,  
'So, you have a little soft spot for the Captain 'ey?'  
'I appreciate that he doesn't make it his goal in life to bed anything he meets that carries a pulse, especially when said desire warns him against attempting such actions, if that counts as a soft spot then yes' the lift stopped and the doors opened, there was a short corridor with a door at the end. Stark led me through the door, the room looked like it could contain a monster adequately,  
'So this is where you contain the Green Machine, how does he feel about this?'  
'Banner agrees with the precaution' I turned to him,  
'That's nice for Banner, but how does the other guy feel about it?' Stark smirked,  
'If you're willing to ask him and find out, be our guest' I shrugged,  
'There's got to be something other than aggression to the guy, maybe Banner just refuses to accept that he could be more than the one person' there was movement from the far corner of the room,  
'That's a nice theory, but if there was more to him, why would he only come out when I'm angry?' I looked over to the doctor and smiled at him, he gave a wary smile back,  
'Tell me this, if you were him and the only way you could exist was through just one emotion, would you take advantage of that emotion to live?' Banner grinned appreciatively as he walked past us,  
'Quite the philosopher' I turned to face him as he went to leave,  
'Not a philosopher Banner, just wondering why you wouldn't allow another version of yourself to exist when it clearly craves existence enough to appear a monster to any who see it' Banner left without another word and Stark stared at me, 'well thank you for showing me to my living quarters, if you have no need for me I would ask for you to leave'  
'Hey, you're in my house now, nobody can tell me what to do in my house' I started pushing him to the door,  
'Well that's lovely but I'm not nobody, therefore I am perfectly able to tell you to leave, which I believe I just did' I shoved him through the door and smiled, 'was there anything else?'  
'You could always share my quarters if you would prefer a bit more comfort?' I slammed the door shut and turned to the room. One cell to another, this one slightly more private than the last, no cameras or mics in the room, well who would want to spy on the green guy anyway.


	7. Chapter 7

I was sitting on the floor thinking of my interactions so far with the team, if I want them to make me a part of the team I will have to make myself a little more desirable to its members, and not in the way Stark would like. I would have to do a lot of repair work to make Romanov even think of letting me near the team, let alone on it, Barton would most likely follow her like a little puppy. Stark would follow his libido and is practically sold on the possibility anyway, Banner could be a problem if he didn't take kindly to my observations earlier, and the Captain, well his position is yet to be determined really. There was a polite knock on the door before it opened and the Captain walked in carrying a tray of food, I smiled at him as he stopped in front of me, I stood up and he passed me the tray,  
'It's not much, but more than the bread or water Tony suggested I bring down' I smirked,  
'No doubt intending to carry on a little joke we had back at the carrier about the quality of the food, this is very much appreciated though Captain, thank you' I bowed my head slightly, he stood in front of me looking at me, 'was there something you wanted Captain, I would be more than happy to help you in any way I can' he smiled slightly,  
'I was wondering if you were from England, because your accent isn't American' I smiled a genuine smile,  
'I could see why you would think England, my father did have what you would assume was an English accent and I got mine from him' his smile grew slightly,  
'I take it you and your dad were close?' I looked down at the tray,  
'As close as we were able to be, I have not heard from him for a while, I very much miss his voice' I saw the look of pity in his eyes, 'no worries though, I shall hear his voice again fairly soon, I am sure of it' I placed the tray on the ground, picking up the plate of sandwiches, 'would you care for some food?' he shook his head,  
'That is your food, I wouldn't think of taking any'  
'It's quite alright, I will not eat much anyway, I have had much bread and water already' I smiled at him a he shook his head,  
'Still, it would not be proper to take a dames food, especially in circumstances such as this'  
'You can say what I am, a prisoner, it was by my own doing. I want you to know I do not wish to bring harm to you or the team, I do feel terrible for my actions towards Miss Romanov but I was merely defending myself. Stark will come to no harm from me if he stops his unwanted advances, I am not the type of woman to take to a mans bed unless I were to love him'  
'Something your mum taught you?',  
'I don't have a mother'  
'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you' I smiled,  
'No, you misunderstand, I have two fathers, however I only really know one father but I aim to get to know the second in the future' I looked into his eyes, 'I would ask you to not tell your team that I have two fathers, I do not wish for them to judge me because of this fact' he gave a reassuring smile,  
'I can keep that quiet until you are ready to tell the team, unless it would immediately affect the teams welfare' I beamed at him,  
'That is most understandable, and I would expect nothing less' he nodded and turned to leave,  
'Someone will return for your plate in an hour'  
'Thank you Captain' the door closed and I smirked, and so the slow integration begins.


	8. Chapter 8

I awoke as the door opened and Stark burst in,  
'So you don't like my advances because you're a virgin! Don't worry babe, I feel I'm a fairly considerate guy' I sighed,  
'Stark, I am no virgin, even so you wouldn't even stand a chance with me if you were the last man in existence' he grabbed his chest in mock pain,  
'Ah, your killing me, no one's usually this stubborn couple of winks and a smile and they're all mine' I stood up and brushed the dust from my clothes,  
'Any reason you're here other than wrongly deducing the reason I wouldn't touch you if you offered me all your money to make up for it?' I smiled at him, as he straightened his cuffs,  
'Time for some consultation, so you're coming with me to my workshop' I headed towards the door and he placed a hand on my shoulder to stop me, 'Fury wants you in hand cuffs for this, I convinced him you wouldn't cause damage if you were kept out of them' I nodded,  
'Well thank you Stark, it's very much appreciated' he smirked, 'Not that much'  
I walked to the lift and stepped inside, Stark stepped in and pressed to go up three floors,  
'If you do pose a threat, we are going to have to cuff you. I am all for Banner doing it, I'd love to see you anger that guy by kicking him in the family jewels' I smirked,  
'I'll take that into consideration. What exactly do you want me to look at in your workshop?' I gave him a warning glare to keep it clean,  
'I'm rather interested in finding out what you use as power source' silence accompanied us until the lift halted, 'you could have said what you use right then' the doors opened,  
'I could have, but you wouldn't believe me, and why should you?' I walked into the room and headed straight over to the workbench with my rucksack on it, I went to pick up a repulsor,  
'Leave it' I looked up to see Barton perched on some scaffolding, his bow aimed at me, I gave a contrite smile,  
'No need to worry Mr Barton, just showing Stark here the power source' I gestured to the gadgets, 'may I continue?' I looked to Stark who nodded, I placed the repulsor on my left hand, doing up the strap around my wrist and made it whir. Stark grabbed my hand and started rotating it left and right,  
'So where is the power source' I grinned,  
'I'm the source' I pulled open the strap and he saw the metal pin sticking into my wrist, as I took off the repulsor the pin receded into the strap as though it wasn't there,  
'Brilliant, so you have some form of energy converter in your wrists' I nodded,  
'It's along similar lines as your arc reactor, only I'm keeping the technology powered and not the other way around.' Stark pulled the spinal shield from the rucksack and raised an eyebrow at me,  
'Is this just a protective precaution or is there something more to it?' I shrugged,  
'Well who would limit this technology?' he laughed,  
'Good point,' he put the shield back on the bench, 'so where did you learn to do this?' I looked up at the archer, he stared blankly back, his bow still aimed at me,  
'It's hereditary, and no, I wont be telling you who from' I smirked, 'so you can report this to Fury if you really want, my parentage is strictly need to know, and no one here needs to know' I turned back to Stark and gave a shit eating grin, 'no matter how important they feel they are' I sat on the chair and watched as Stark started pulling apart the repulsor, his music turning on as he tapped a few commands on his screens. I kept glancing up at the archer who kept his sight trained on me, I got up and walked over to the bottom of the scaffolding and slowly started to climb it, I was halfway up when Barton drew back his arrow,  
'No further' I stopped and balanced on the pole I was on, I looked down to see Stark was paying us little attention,  
'I'm sorry for Miss Romanov's injury' he narrowed his eyes at me, 'I don't expect you to believe me, if I were you I would see no reason to trust what I say' I looked at the workshop, you could see everything from this point, behind every bench and in every corner, 'I see why you like being up high, removing the element of surprise from your target. Where did you learn to fire an arrow?' I looked at him, and he stared blankly at me, 'I've always been fascinated by the skills necessary, the strength needed to pull back the arrow and still have, in your case, perfect aim' I heard a snort from Stark and I looked at him, he was staring at me in disbelief,  
'A billionaire hits on you and you threaten him, a guy that, well Clint quite obviously has issues with you, and you flirt with him,' he threw his hands in the air letting out an exasperated breath, 'I give up on you' I smiled and muttered under my breath so only Barton could hear,  
'Maybe now he'll stop the advances' I looked back to Barton to see a quick flicker of a grin on his face, 'Don't flatter yourself Archer, I prefer men with a little more emotion in what they do' I started my slow descent to the ground, as I hit the ground Stark stood behind me and grabbed my waist, I froze and gripped the scaffolding,  
'Let go of me Stark' I hissed, he quickly let go and I turned to face him, 'If that is all I shall return to my room' I headed to the lift, and sensed someone behind me, I looked over my shoulder to see the archer following me, I got in the lift and he followed pushing the button. We descended in silence, the lift stopped and I headed for the doors, the archer grabbed my arm,  
'I don't know what you're up to, but I'm keeping a close eye on you' I nodded and stepped out the lift,  
'So you must enjoy being rather bored and feeling stupid' I walked to the door of my cell, before turning back to face him before the lift doors shut, 'and Barton, could you tell Romanov that I am sorry to have injured her, I understand she was following orders.'


	9. Chapter 9

I was sitting next to Stark in the workshop putting my repulsors back together after he had finally finished pulling them apart, he was now working away on his computer looking at the schematics of all he had found out, Captain America was in a chair nearby drawing and watching what was going on, he had taken over Bartons position in the workshop about a month ago, it had been decided that I was not an immediate threat but would still need to be watched when in the workshop. I put the repulsors on and they whirred into action, I gave a satisfied smile and picked up a few pieces to start putting my face mask back together,  
'You going to take those off?' I looked at Stark who pointed at my hands, I flexed my fingers,  
'Not yet, I've missed them. I promise I wont use them, just let me keep them on for a minute' he looked back at the Captain who shrugged,  
'She's not given us any reason not to trust her in the month she's been here' Stark nodded and turned back to his work, I looked at the Captain,  
'Thank you' he gave a quick nod then went back to his drawing pad,  
'Just don't make me regret this' I smiled and went back to my mask.  
Stark and I both jumped as an alarm blared through the speakers, I watched as Stark ran and got in his armour and the Captain grabbed my arm turning me to face him,  
'Wait here, an agent will be here to supervise in seconds' I nodded and he ran from the room, Iron Man shot out the opened window. I waited ten seconds before pulling on my mask which covered my mouth and nose fitting into the converters just under my earlobes. I instigated the thrusters in my shoes and followed the suit. I quickly targeted the suit, he was heading south from the tower, I changed my course and followed. Five minutes later I saw a streak of red and gold zoom past me in the opposite direction shortly followed by two droids, I shot at one and it started falling, I chased the second and as I drew close enough it started falling. I looked up to see Iron Man hovering his face plate up,  
'What the fuck are you doing here?' a few more droids came towards us and we started blasting them, as soon as they were down he tackled me and pulled me to a nearby roof, I pulled of my mask,  
'I want to help' he started walking to the edge of the building,  
'There's a whole bunch of these round the corner, I was getting the strays' I pulled on my mask and followed him. The street was full of them, most on the ground shooting at the team, Hawkeye sat on a building feeding the team information, I landed a few feet from the Captain and blasted a few droids, he turned and caught his shield and saw me,  
'What are you doing here!' Stark flew over head and the Captain nodded, 'Keep them in this street, try to keep the casualties down' I nodded and started running up the street, blasting droids as I went. There seemed to be an endless amount of droids and I was starting to feel my lack of energy. I could here the sound if Starks suit overhead and looked up in time to see a droid falling straight at me, I jumped to the side and glared at the suit as it flew off. I looked at the droid and noticed it was similar to some I had sold the blueprints of several months ago, I walked over to it and scanned it, apart from a few minor changes and an increase in its fire power it was the same. I started running back to the Captain, I had to warn him of the threat.  
I saw him pulling the head off a droid and headed to him, I pulled off my mask as I drew closer,  
'Captain, we have a big problem here!' he threw his shield,  
'I can see that' I grabbed his shoulder,  
'No, I designed these. It's going to get a whole lot worse if we don't act fast' he caught his shield and looked at me,  
'How?' the droids all suddenly stopped, we looked around then back at each other,  
'I designed them so they could fit together, they can make a bigger droid, and considering how many have been made, I say it will be a really big droid' the droids started converging together,  
'Well stop them, you stopped the other ones you designed you can stop these ones' I shook my head,  
'These have been altered, I can't be sure my fail-safe would still work' the droids were starting to stack and meld together, Stark landed next to us, he opened his face plate,  
'Any ideas here Cap?' he thought for a second then looked at me,  
'If you got close enough, could you figure out how to shut them down?'  
'Probably, but I'm going to need Stark, he can relay what I need to you' the Captain nodded, Stark put his face plate down and I gave the Captain my mask, 'don't lose this' I started up my thrusters and headed towards the near complete droid, I quickly scanned it and Stark stopped next to me,  
'Found any weak points?' I pointed towards a point near the middle,  
'One of the armour droids was taken out in the battle. I can fit in the gap, my scan didn't show any electronics I could use to shut it down though'  
'What about creating an explosion' I gave him a sardonic look,  
'It would work, but I'm not carrying explosives, and judging from my scans of your suit, neither are you'  
'I'm not, but Hawkeye has some' I looked up at the agent and saw he was watching us intently,  
'Tell him to shoot an arrow at my hand with the explosive on it' I held up my left hand,  
'You can't be serious!'  
'I'll catch it with the right, he just needs to aim at my hand' the droid started moving, 'TELL HIM!' I saw the agent pull back his string and I closed my eyes. I felt the arrow penetrate my hand, I yelled and opened my eyes, it was caught in the repulsor, the explosive sticking out the back of my hand. I snapped the explosive end off and pulled the rest of the arrow from my hand. The droid turned and started firing at me and Stark, we both shot upwards taking advantage of its reduced speed due to its size, I headed back for the opening and started crawling to the centre. I grabbed the explosive and shoved it into a tight crevice and started shuffling backwards, I reached the edge of the opening I started my thrusters, as I left the opening the thrusters blast hit the explosive causing the explosion, the force throwing me against a building.


	10. Chapter 10

I glared at the closing lift doors as the Captain, Clint and Natasha stayed inside and I was left standing in the med floor corridor. The nurse they had handed me over too was trying to lead me to a room further down the corridor, I headed for the door to the stairs,  
'That's the wrong way miss' I gave her a sardonic look,  
'REALLY?! But I want to get off this floor and the sign says stairs so I don't think it is, do you?' I pushed the door open and ran. The conference room was ten floors up, my ribs were really starting to ache as I entered the corridor I walked straight towards the closed door and stopped outside to regain some composure. I could just hear voices from the other side,  
'…she's a danger to the team!'  
'How the hell did you get to that conclusion Fury, from what I've seen she's been pretty helpful. She had taken down some droids when we first met her, and she just helped us take down another load. The fact that she hasn't tried to hurt anyone in the month she's been here proves she…'  
'She broke Agent Romanovs wrist Stark! Is that what you call not hurting anyone?!' there was a large slamming sound,  
'From what I saw of your security footage, she was defending herself. This discussion isn't valid, this is my team and I will choose who's on it, not you!' I threw the door open and walked in, everyone stared at me as I stood with my arms folded. Fury looked ready to kill someone, and not necessarily me,  
'What do you make of this Rogers? Do you think she should be on the team?' I looked at the Captain who was looking at Fury with his arms folded, his back to me,  
'I think she would be a great asset to the team and she's given us no reason not to trust her so far. That being said she also hasn't shown the ability to work in a team' I huffed in irritation,  
'Oh like that's any different to Stark. The whole time I've been here he hasn't shown many signs of being a team player' he turned to look at me,  
'And he made it on the team, so I see no reason why you should not' I smiled,  
'REALLY!' Fury slammed his hand on the desk,  
'Fine, but anything she does falls on your shoulders!' he stormed from the room, Barton glanced at me then followed him. Romanov went to follow but stopped next to me and gave me a cold stare,  
'I'm keeping a close eye on you' she left and I grinned at Stark and the Captain, they didn't look as pleased as me,  
'I will work on being part of the team, I promise' the Captain shook his head,  
'Honestly Tony, she's like you' Stark slung an arm over his shoulder,  
'Nothing wrong with that Spangles, just makes things more interesting. Imagine if we had kids' he winked at me and I gagged then went to scream at him when the Captain jumped in,  
'Seriously, how many times does she have to shoot you down before you get that she's not interested!' Stark stepped back,  
'Cool it Capsicle, she gets I'm only joking. No need for you to jump in and defend her honour'  
'Or maybe, Stark, he gets that I don't like your jokes and would much prefer you to stop'  
'Well, if you're sure that's what you want, but you don't know what you're missing' he gave his trademark smirk then stalked from the room and the Captain shook his head,  
'That's probably the best you're going to get from him' I shrugged,  
'He'll regret coming on to me sooner or later. There are a plethora of reasons I detest the advances, one of the many is he is so not my type, he's way too egotistical'.


	11. Chapter 11

I glared at the closing lift doors as the Captain, Clint and Natasha stayed inside and I was left standing in the med floor corridor. The nurse they had handed me over too was trying to lead me to a room further down the corridor, I headed for the door to the stairs,  
'That's the wrong way miss' I gave her a sardonic look,  
'REALLY?! But I want to get off this floor and the sign says stairs so I don't think it is, do you?' I pushed the door open and ran. The conference room was ten floors up, my ribs were really starting to ache as I entered the corridor I walked straight towards the closed door and stopped outside to regain some composure. I could just hear voices from the other side,  
'…she's a danger to the team!'  
'How the hell did you get to that conclusion Fury, from what I've seen she's been pretty helpful. She had taken down some droids when we first met her, and she just helped us take down another load. The fact that she hasn't tried to hurt anyone in the month she's been here proves she…'  
'She broke Agent Romanovs wrist Stark! Is that what you call not hurting anyone?!' there was a large slamming sound,  
'From what I saw of your security footage, she was defending herself. This discussion isn't valid, this is my team and I will choose who's on it, not you!' I threw the door open and walked in, everyone stared at me as I stood with my arms folded. Fury looked ready to kill someone, and not necessarily me,  
'What do you make of this Rogers? Do you think she should be on the team?' I looked at the Captain who was looking at Fury with his arms folded, his back to me,  
'I think she would be a great asset to the team and she's given us no reason not to trust her so far. That being said she also hasn't shown the ability to work in a team' I huffed in irritation,  
'Oh like that's any different to Stark. The whole time I've been here he hasn't shown many signs of being a team player' he turned to look at me,  
'And he made it on the team, so I see no reason why you should not' I smiled,  
'REALLY!' Fury slammed his hand on the desk,  
'Fine, but anything she does falls on your shoulders!' he stormed from the room, Barton glanced at me then followed him. Romanov went to follow but stopped next to me and gave me a cold stare,  
'I'm keeping a close eye on you' she left and I grinned at Stark and the Captain, they didn't look as pleased as me,  
'I will work on being part of the team, I promise' the Captain shook his head,  
'Honestly Tony, she's like you' Stark slung an arm over his shoulder,  
'Nothing wrong with that Spangles, just makes things more interesting. Imagine if we had kids' he winked at me and I gagged then went to scream at him when the Captain jumped in,  
'Seriously, how many times does she have to shoot you down before you get that she's not interested!' Stark stepped back,  
'Cool it Capsicle, she gets I'm only joking. No need for you to jump in and defend her honour'  
'Or maybe, Stark, he gets that I don't like your jokes and would much prefer you to stop'  
'Well, if you're sure that's what you want, but you don't know what you're missing' he gave his trademark smirk then stalked from the room and the Captain shook his head,  
'That's probably the best you're going to get from him' I shrugged,  
'He'll regret coming on to me sooner or later. There are a plethora of reasons I detest the advances, one of the many is he is so not my type, he's way too egotistical'.


	12. Chapter 12

I had been sat in the workshop fixing my repulsor when Stark came in carrying a cup of coffee, he gave a quick nod of acknowledgement before going to his screens. We worked away in silence for hours, I was putting the finishing touches to my repulsor when I felt a pain in my shoulder, I looked at it to see a fresh cut, Stark bent over to look at it,  
'Did you just cut me?' he watched as the cut started to close,  
'Interesting' he straightened up and went back to his screens, I got up and went to look at them, he minimized the screens, 'Do you mind?' I raised my eyebrow at him,  
'Why did you cut me?' he leant back,  
'Wanted to see your nanobots, quite impressive really, how'd you engineer them to recreate the necessary cells?' I rolled my eyes,  
'You cut me for that?' I shook my head then went to leave, Stark yelled after me,  
'You going to tell me?' I left the room, and headed for the lift. As it opened it revealed the Captain, I smiled as I got in, the lift doors shut and I pushed the button for my cells floor,  
'Didn't Stark tell you?' I frowned,  
'Tell me what?'  
'You've got your own room now that you're part of the team. You'll be sharing a floor with me' I felt a flutter in my stomach,  
'Oh, right. Erm, no he didn't say anything about that, I guess it makes sense, I mean if I'm now a part of the team I can't exactly stay in Banners cool down room, who knows when he'll go green. Talking of Banner, where's he been I haven't seen him since I came here' I noticed he was staring at me with a slight smile, 'I'm sorry, I'm rambling again aren't I. I try not to but I don't realise I'm doing it' I shrugged my shoulders, 'I don't know why I do it, maybe I get it from my dad' the lift stopped and the doors opened, 'I guess I don't need this floor anymore, which one do I need?' he pushed the button and the doors started closing. I watched the floor numbers change,  
'Tony said he had some clothes put in your room'  
'Oh. Well, I'll have to thank him tomorrow' what the hell was wrong with me, I've gone from verbal diarrhoea to total mind blank, I smiled at the Captain then looked down at the ground. When the lift stopped I stepped into a corridor that had a door either side and at the end was another one,  
'Your room is the one to the left, I'll be across the hall if you need me' I nodded and went in my new room. It was quite large with a door that lead off to a bathroom, it had a wardrobe and chest of drawers, a rather large bed and a TV mounted on the far wall. I went to the chest of drawers, I pulled out a few items of clothing and noticed they were the skimpiest clothes imaginable, I yanked all the clothes from the drawers and proceeded to search for something decent in the wardrobe. I screamed in frustration and grabbed the nightdress that seemed the longest and least revealing and changed into it. There was a knock on the door and I quickly looked down at what I was wearing, it barely covered my chest and every attempt I tried to pull it up or down it just uncovered a different part of me, there was another knock,  
'Are you okay in there, I heard a scream' I walked over to the door and opened it a crack, I could tell that my cheeks were slightly red,  
'Erm, yeah. Just a little wardrobe trouble' the Captain nodded,  
'Anything I could help with?' I went to shake my head then stopped, I opened the door all the way, I held one arm over my chest while trying to pull it down with the other, the Captains cheeks starting going red and I felt my stomach do a little flip,  
'This is the least, err, revealing, of the clothes Stark has provided' I moved aside so he could see the large pile of fabric, because none of them are decent enough to be called clothes, on the floor, 'and I am so not comfortable with sleeping in this' he turned and headed back to his room, I stood staring at his door, he came back out holding a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, he held them out for me,  
'These might be a bit big, but they are certainly less…' he coughed and I took them, I leant up and kissed his cheek then froze as I pulled back, I mentally slapped myself into reality again,  
'Th-thank you, these are perfect' I headed to my bathroom and quickly got changed, the shirt was longer than that stupid nightdress, I pulled on the joggers and they fell straight back down, I pulled them back up and held them up with my hand. I walked out the bathroom to see the Captain folding some of the clothes and putting them away, I remembered some of the skimpier outfits and felt the blush stain my cheeks, I covered my face with my hands and felt the joggers drop, I let out a little yelp I heard a bump, I slowly uncovered my face to see a really red faced Captain looking at me,  
'Sorry, I-I can tidy that up. Thanks for the clothes' I remembered the joggers were still round my ankles, I stepped out of them and picked them up, 'I think these are too big for me to get away with' I laughed as he took them from me and headed for the door,  
'If there's anything else I could help with, don't hesitate to ask' I nodded as he closed my door. Looked at the pile on the floor and went straight to the bed, that lot could wait until morning.


	13. Chapter 13

I stood staring at the pile of clothes when the idea struck me, I grabbed the skimpiest item I could find and headed up to the shared kitchen area. The Captain stood at the cooker frying some eggs and bacon, the two assassins sat at the table having a laugh with Banner. Stark was standing near the coffee machine waiting for it to finish brewing, I strode up to him, he looked at me and grinned, I shoved the clothing in his face then stomped on his foot, he let out a yelp of pain.  
'Not funny Stark' he leant against the counter,  
'Well it looks like Steve managed to keep to his namesake and save the damsel in distress' Stark pointed to the t-shirt I had on'  
'Isn't it embarrassing when a host can't provide for his guests and someone else has to provide what's needed' Stark glanced down,  
'At least I provided you with bottoms as well' he rose an eyebrow at me, I smirked,  
'His shirt is longer than any of the nightdresses you provided, besides, his joggers were too big for me'  
'You've only had that room for one night and already you're in capsicles pants. I thought I worked fast' I felt my face go red and could see the Captains had too, I turned around and noticed everyone was staring at me,  
'You are a disgusting pervert Stark' I could feel the anger causing tears to well up and I quickly left the room. As I waited for the lift I heard someone follow me, I turned round to tell them to shove off but stopped when I saw it was Romanov, I turned back to the lift, fighting to keep myself from crying,  
'It's nothing personal, Tony was the same with me once, still is when he's brave enough to try it, normally he's drunk' I nodded and got in the lift and she followed pushing the button for what I suppose was her floor, I went to push the button for mine but she stopped me, 'from what Tony said after you left, you're going to need to borrow some clothes' I smiled at her,  
'Thanks' she nodded,  
'No problem. Steve is tearing him a new one right now, so he should lay off it for a while' I had finally managed to calm myself down,  
'The Captain doesn't need to do that. I can handle myself' I shrugged, 'I just want to beat him whenever he opens his stupid mouth'  
'So, why don't you use his name?'  
'Whose?'  
'Steve's, you refer to the rest of us by our last name or team name, but you only call him Captain, why?' my mind went into overdrive throwing loads of excuses around for me to use,  
'I…um….well…you see…' I looked at my hands as I fidgeted with them,  
'Yeah, I see' I looked at her and she gave a knowing look, I stared at her blankly.  
She handed me a pair of blue skinny jeans and a white shirt, I quickly changed in the bathroom and went back out, her clothes were just a touch bigger than me but I could work with them.  
'I've never worn these colours before' she looked at me,  
'Seriously. What colours do you wear?' I scratched my head quickly,  
'Mainly black, sometimes have a bit of green in there, I think I had a red scarf once' we headed back to the kitchen,  
'Why?' I shrugged,  
'Easier to hide when you're in dark clothing, the bright red scarf nearly got me caught once so it had to go' as we walked in the kitchen the others were sitting round the table eating and talking. Thor was sitting eating pop tarts,  
'So this is the K you have been speaking of. It's a pleasure to meet you, I am Thor Odinson of Asgard' he stood up knocking the table as he did so,  
'Calm down Thor, you might scare her' I gave Stark a sardonic look, then headed over to the god, I shook his hand,  
'Nice to meet you, I hope you've only heard good things, and nothing from Stark' I took the last available seat between the captain and Thor,  
'I have been told of your bravery in battle, and of your great knowledge that rivals the man of irons' I smiled,  
'I take it you've been on Asgard' he nodded,  
'Getting the serum for our bonding' I froze, and Barton shook his head,  
'What he means is that we have team bonding days where we get to know each other so that we work better as a team when we have a mission' I let out a little laugh,  
'That sounds fun, but what is the serum for?' I took a sip of my water, and Stark went to speak, 'Somebody else tell me, because if Stark opens his mouth I cannot be held accountable for my actions' everybody but Stark laughed,  
'It's truth serum, all our get to know each other days start with a game of truth or dare. And seeing as two of us are trained not to give truthful answers and we can't always be sure Tony's telling the truth Thor suggested after the first time when there seemed to be a lot of lying he should get some of the serum from Asgard'  
'Oh, makes sense I guess. But what if someone asks a question that is really personal?' they all looked at me like I was stupid and I shrunk back into my chair,  
'That's the point of getting to know each other, finding out about the personal stuff' I grabbed my knife to throw it at Stark but the captain grabbed my hand and took it off me, I glared at Stark,  
'What I mean, is if they ask about something that is really none of their business or that you really don't want anyone to know?' Romanov coughed and I looked at her,  
'There are no rules as to what can and can't be asked, but we do respect each others boundaries, like none of ask Steve too much about Peggy. It's about working together ultimately, not getting stuff to hurt people with' I nodded, and took another sip of water,  
'Do you want any eggs or bacon?' I looked at the captain and shook my head,  
'No thank you, I'm happy with my water'  
'You have to eat something, you have eaten only bread since you have been here, and even then only about once a day and very little of it' I looked at his very full plate,  
'Not everyone needs as much food, besides I'm eating more here than I did before you found me'  
'Seriously, you eat hardly anything now. It would explain why even my clothes are a bit big for you' I gave her a sheepish look,  
'Then at least eat some toast' the captain took a slice from his plate and put it on mine, it had a little bean juice and brown sauce on it, I slowly picked it up and stared at it, they all stared at me waiting for me to take a bite. I closed my eyes and bit off a corner, I chewed and swallowed it quickly then opened my eyes, they were all still watching as though I was crazy,  
'Did you think it was going to kill you?' I went to glare at Stark when I felt the toast coming back up, I covered my mouth and ran for the bathroom.  
There was a knock on the door and the sound of several people talking to each other on the other side of the door,  
'K? Are you okay?'  
'Yeah' my voice was slightly strained, 'I just, really don't think toast with bean juice and brown sauce agrees with me' I heard someone try the door and giving up when they realised it was locked,  
'Are you going to be coming out any time soon?' I rinsed my mouth round with water then went and opened the door, they all stood there looking at me, I pushed through them all and went back to the kitchen and sat down, they all stood in the doorway looking at me, I picked up my water and took a sip, then looked at them all,  
'Well, if you're all finished staring at me like a fish in an aquarium, I'm going to go read. Enjoy your breakfasts' I left as they all went and sat at the table.


	14. Chapter 14

I was half way through another book on gamma radiation when Stark came in the room, I finished the page then looked up at him,  
'Is there a problem?' he nodded,  
'Team bonding was supposed to start forty minutes ago, and you've managed to make me look like I turned up on time' I put the book down,  
'Well we can't have that can we' I followed him to the TV room, the team were all sat in a circle on the floor, I sat between Stark and Barton. Romanov leant forward and handed me a shot, I went to give it back,  
'That's the truth serum' I looked at it and shrugged,  
'Bottoms up' I knocked it back, then put the shot glass back on the floor, 'That was vile' Stark passed me a glass filled with purple liquid,  
'Wash it down with this' I looked at it dubiously,  
'What is it?' he grinned,  
'Skittle vodka' I gave it back to him,  
'No thanks, I'm not drinking' he shrugged, and knocked it back himself,  
'More for me then' Romanov placed a bottle in the centre,  
'The rules, the bottle is spun and when it lands the spinner picks either a truth or dare for the person it lands on, if they ask a question it has to be answered within a minute or else the serum takes effect, if the person lies the serum takes effect, truths cannot be forfeited. If they chose to issue a dare and the recipient declines they have to do a forfeit, if they fail to complete the dare they have to do a forfeit. Usual forfeits apply, we just have to choose one that K has to do' I looked as they all started thinking,  
'Before you do that, what are everyone else forfeits?' Banner took the field on this question,  
'Tony has to turn up to his next press conference with an item of clothing, of our choice, missing for each forfeit. Steve has to remove an item of clothing of our choice. Clint will have to wear a dress at his next official SHIELD training session, multiple forfeits means a more feminine outfit. Tasha has to walk around with a teddy all of tomorrow and Thor has to thread ten needles for each forfeit, which for him is really hard'  
'What about you?'  
'He has to dress as a baby and go shopping' Barton laughed, I nodded then gave a little evil smirk,  
'I have a suggestion for Starks, I reckon he should have to go to a press conference wearing some of the clothes he so graciously provided me with, and the more forfeits he has the skimpier the clothing' Barton started howling with laughter, 'see if he can take what he dishes out' Stark clapped me on the back,  
'You're on! Just so you know, I never forfeit' he winked and I rolled my eyes,  
'Anybody have an idea for my forfeit yet?' Stark spoke up again,  
'Actually, I do. Seeing as you are so much like Spangles here when it comes to anything sexual' I shivered as he said the word, 'you can ring director Fury and flirt with him, the more you forfeit the more times you have to call him' I nodded,  
'Fine, who spins first?' Barton leant forward and spun the bottle,  
'I won last time' the bottle stopped on Thor and Barton grinned, 'Dare!'  
The game had been going on for over an hour and a half, Thor was busy trying to thread his sixth needle while Stark span the bottle, it landed on me, I waited for the inevitable dare,  
'TRUTH!' I gave a surprised look and he smiled, 'Why don't you use Steve's name?' I sat and stared at Stark, cursing him. As the silence drew on Stark started to grin, I felt a warm feeling growing in my stomach and spreading up my neck, it got hotter and hotter, but I refused to answer,  
'She's lasting longer than Tasha did' Barton whispered, my shoulders started to shake as the burning started to really hurt, 'Just answer the question' I sucked in a deep breath,  
'Because I have a crush on him' I felt the blush stain my cheeks as the burning sensation immediately went, I quickly span the bottle and it landed on Banner, I gave an evil grin and he stopped laughing,  
'I dare you to hulk out' everyone stopped laughing and stared at me,  
'He can't do that!' I gave Stark a sarcastic look,  
'Oh no, looks like he'll have to take the forfeit' Stark and Barton burst out laughing,  
'Why did we never think of that? You play this better than Tasha' I smiled.  
We had gone round the circle again, the Captain was now shirtless and Thor had just finished trying to sing a nursery rhyme and had promptly started threading needles again, as I giggled away. Barton spun the bottle and it landed on me, I stopped giggling and waited,  
'I would love to say dare but I really want an answer to this, why do you hate Starks advances so much, and be specific, what exactly is it?' I blurted out my answer without thinking,  
'He's my dad' I slapped my hand over my mouth,  
'You're kidding' I looked at Barton,  
'No' Stark laughed nervously,  
'That can't be true, I have always made sure that no one I slept with was pregnant. So what's the real reason?' I shrugged,  
'Well somebody was, because here I am'  
'You're lying' I slapped him round the face, my hand tingled with the force of it, his cheek was already turning red,  
'I AM NOT A LIAR! I MAY SAY THINGS SO HOW THEY ARE UNDERSTOOD ISN'T HOW THEY ARE MEANT IN ORDER TO HIDE THE TRUTH, BUT I DO NOT LIE!' everyone was staring at me, I clenched my hands in my lap, 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slap you' I got up, 'I shouldn't have played this game' I walked out the room and went out on the balcony, I was near the large A so I climbed out onto it, sitting inside the triangle in the middle.


	15. Chapter 15

I had been sitting in the A for over an hour, looking out on the city, my legs huddled to my chest with my head resting on my knees, I had heard them shouting my name inside the tower as they had started looking for me soon after I had left them all to their game. Stark had flown out the tower a short while ago, I had patched into the communications system and heard him telling the captain that he couldn't find me anywhere. He had gone to the building they had found me in and checked all the surrounding area. He sounded panicked and annoyed, the captain sounded worried, I would go back in soon enough, I just wanted some time to think. Stark was never supposed to find out who I was, it wasn't part of the plan. I saw him come back towards the tower, I shuffled back in the A to ensure I was less visible, I heard his thrusters as he drew near,  
'Hey 'Cap, I think I found her' I cursed but didn't move, he landed inside the A and opened his face plate, 'Didn't you hear us looking for you?' I kept looking out over the city, the lights sparkling like stars in the darkness,  
'How did you see me?'  
'A white shirt in the dark, sort of obvious don't you think' I cursed Romanov and her clothes,  
'Obviously not, otherwise you would have found me ages ago' he laughed,  
'So… you have a crush on Steve' I let out a sigh of exasperation,  
'Go away Stark, can't you tell I don't want to be around anyone at the moment!' he sat at the edge, his legs hanging over, I could hear the captain asking him over the com's exactly where he was, 'Are you going to tell him?'  
'Tell who what?'  
'The captain, where you are' I stood up and walked over to the edge, I looked down, we were really high up, I walked behind Stark,  
'Do you want me to?'  
'I don't care if you tell him where you are, he won't be able to find me if you do'  
'What do you…' I shoved him and he went over the edge, I quickly scrambled out of the A and ran into the tower. I ran down the stairs as fast as I could and ran onto a random floor, I went through a door and found myself in a room full of crates. I quickly found a niche and hid inside it, I could hear Stark on the com's,  
'I can't believe she did that, how could she push me off my tower' I grinned, 'Calm down Tony, where did she go?', 'I don't know, she ran back inside the tower, JARVIS can't pick her up, it's like she's blocked herself from the system' I sighed, I was going to have to face them soon, the longer I left it the worse it would be, mind, I could make it into a fun game of hide and seek. I opened one of the crates, it had some Stark Industries tech inside, I grabbed a couple and started pulling them apart. Five minutes later I had myself a mic, I patched it into the com's system, and fixed it to my earpiece and put it on,  
'Has anyone found her yet?',  
'Negative',  
'No',  
'I thought I did, but no'  
'This reminds me of a game my brother and I would play on Asgard, he was very good, I remember spending a whole two days searching for him once' I laughed,  
'Who was that, Natasha?'  
'Hey, it wasn't me!' I coughed,  
'It was me' they all started talking at once,  
'Everybody, STOP!' everyone followed the captains order, 'K where are you?'  
'That's against the rules of the game Captain, but here's a clue. I am still inside the tower'  
'What game?!'  
'Oh yeah, you weren't here when I was thinking, right sorry. So I stopped wanting time to think about five minutes ago, and decided I wanted to play hide and seek, and seeing as Thor knows how to play the game there is no rules to explain. Ooooh and to make it more fun for you guys, the first one to find me gets to ask one question that I will answer without question and truthfully'  
'You think you can push me off my tower and then play a game!'  
'Oh calm down Stark, you were wearing your suit, you weren't in any danger' Barton laughed,  
'She does have you there' I heard someone enter the room and froze, I couldn't see the door from where I was, the footsteps were rather heavy, but not like a metal suit, I'm guessing it's Thor,  
'Has anyone found her?'  
'She is not in the workshop' of course Stark would search there,  
'She's not in her room, or Steves' trust Barton  
'Why would she be in my room? And she isn't in the training rooms'  
'She is not in this room of crates' I pulled my earpiece out as I heard Thor's voice boom through it and the room, I quickly put it back in,  
'Did anyone else notice that?' Romanov hissed,  
'Yeah, everyone quiet. Thor say something else' I cursed, his voice, they must have heard it twice, I quickly covered the mouthpiece,  
'Like what?' I cringed as his voice pounded against my eardrum, there was silence on the line,  
'It wasn't there that time. Thor where did you say you were'  
'In a room full of crates, why?'  
'She's in that room, your voice echoed the first time, and it hasn't since. Everybody get to that room' I looked around and pushed against a crate, it shifted slightly, I kept pushing and created a gap behind it. I slid in the gap and pushed the crate over to where I had just been to make the first gap smaller so they would think I couldn't fit in. I heard the door open and the voices as the rest of the team came in,  
'Right, Natasha, Barton and Thor look over that side. Bruce, Tony and I will look over this side' I heard Thor run past my pile of crates, I was not at all comfortable where I was, my head was at an awkward angle and my legs were squished together so I couldn't move.  
They had been searching for ten minutes,  
'She can't be in here, we've looked everywhere' my legs had gone dead and I was growing tired of the game, so I decided I was going to whisper,  
'I am in here Banner, you're just not looking in the right spaces'  
'Could you give us another clue?'  
'What will you exchange for another clue?'  
'What do you mean?'  
'Okay, so I gave you the first clue in exchange for you playing this game. So for the second clue you must exchange something else, it's a very simple concept, you have a minute to decide if you want the clue, but either way hurry up, because I can barely breath in this space' I concentrated on breathing as they argued about what they could offer as an exchange, it had nearly been a minute when Stark addressed me,  
'Okay so we have an offer. For your clue we will exchange a date with Spangles here, but seeing as it's a lot more than your clue, we want to be able to have a question each when we find you' I smiled at the thought of a date with the captain, but if they all had a question to ask I might have to tell them something I don't want them to know, like Stark being my dad for instance. I was thinking for a minute,  
'So, we got a deal?' my breathing was laboured, 'Are you alright?'  
'Yeah, I just… I am really cramped in here, so the clue right….erm. You're going to have to search… to the centre of the stacks, but be careful, one wrong move and I… am going to kick person that squashes… me with a crate' I could feel the lack of oxygen making my head go dizzy. The sound of dragging crates was far off in the distance, I closed my eyes and focused on the closest crate movements. The sounds were slowly getting closer,  
'There's way too many piles of crates in here' I dragged in another breath,  
'Well I can only hear… one of you mov…ing things near me… and I am… really strugg..ling to breath now'  
'Make some noise. Everyone else get to where Banner is' I tried to wriggle so I would make noise but nothing happened, 'Hit one of the crates K' I tried to pull my arms out from next to me but they were stuck,  
'I can't, my arms… they're stuck'  
'I heard her voice, it sounds like she's over here!' Barton's voice was close, I heard the crates at the top of the stack moving,  
'There's a crevice round here, but she isn't in it'  
'I moved some crates….when I hid. You've probably….found the entrance' I heard some crates crashing, and I felt the one next to me shift slightly, I got my arm free and started hitting the crates,  
'She's here, hurry up' I started shoving the crate, but heard another one nearby fall and stopped, I took in a deep breath, changed my position slightly, the relief on my neck was like heaven. After a few more crates being moved the team found me, I crawled out and stood up, stretching and letting all my joints click,  
'Next time we play hide and seek, I'm finding somewhere comfortable, because you lot are really slow seekers' they all stared angrily at me,  
'That was incredibly stupid, what if we hadn't found you?!' I looked at the floor as the captain yelled at me, 'And what if you had fallen out of the A, you didn't have your thrusters, you would have died. How did you get on it anyway?!' I looked up keeping all emotion from my face,  
'Which one of those two questions was the one you wanted to ask me?'  
'What!?' he gave a disbelieving look,  
'I made the deal that you would all get one question, which one of those was yours?'  
'I know that, but this isn't a game. What you did was stupid and reckless!' Barton stepped forward,  
'Hey, calm down a bit Steve. How was she to know that hiding in the crates would be dangerous' he stared at me then started walking away,  
'Of course you're Tony's kid, you're just a reckless as him' I stuck my tongue out at his back then turned to the rest of the team,  
'So, who's asking theirs first? And you can't ask about my other parent before any of you try'  
'That's not part of the deal' I smiled at Stark,  
'And neither was me banging on a crate, I think it's only fair' he frowned,  
'Fine. Did you want to join the team to get closer to me?' I shook my head, 'care to elaborate on why you did?'  
'You asked your question Stark, you should have chosen better if you wanted a more specific answer' I looked at Banner, 'Question?'  
'Why did you want to join the team?' I smiled,  
'See, that's specific. Anyway, I made a promise to my father, and here I am'  
'You didn't promise me anything' I folded my arms,  
'You're not my father Stark, you're my dad, there is a difference. Barton, question?'  
'What did you promise your dad?' I grinned,  
'As you just heard him say, I promised him nothing' I grinned,  
'That's not who I meant and you know it'  
'It's all about the specifics. Romanov?'  
'Why don't you eat a lot if you are using your energy to power your technology?'  
'They don't need too much energy to run, so long as my heart is pumping, my tech keeps running. Slower the heart beat, the less energy they have' I clapped my hands together, 'Thor, last question, what is it?'  
'You are good at this hiding game, can we play again?' I shook my head,  
'The Captain nearly blew a gasket at this game, I don't think we'll be allowed to play for a while' I started walking away from them, 'Besides, I'm tired now. I'll see you guys tomorrow' there was a small chorus of goodbyes, then they all started chatting amongst themselves.


	16. Chapter 16

This is probably the longest chapter so far, and I had to split it in half, things may get a little confusing during a part of the next couple of chapters but it is all explained.

Thank you for reading this so far and I hope you're enjoying it :)

* * *

I woke up to the sound of knocking on my door, I got up and opened it, the captain stood on the other side looking a little sheepish,  
'Hey'  
'I came to apologise' I looked at the clock then back at him,  
'At eight in the morning?' he scratched his head,  
'Yeah, I uh.. I'm sorry I yelled at you, it's just..' I put my hand on his arm,  
'Don't worry about it Captain, I shouldn't have gone off like that, and I didn't think through hiding in between the crates, I should have seen getting stuck when I forced myself in the small space'  
'I still shouldn't have yelled, and I'm sorry'  
'All's forgiven Captain' I dropped my hand,  
'You can call me Steve, Captain's just my mission name' I nodded,  
'Well I'm going to get dressed, is there anything else you wanted?' he shook his head, 'Then, I'll see you at breakfast' I shut the door and grabbed my freshly washed clothes from atop the drawers.  
I walked into the kitchen, Barton and Romanov were sitting at the table and Steve was making bacon and eggs, I grabbed some bread and stuck three slices in the toaster, when they popped up I buttered them and sat at the table. As I started to eat the second slice Stark walked in and headed straight for the coffee machine, as he looked around he saw me, he sneered and stared back at the machine, his cheek had some bruising that looked like a hand. I rolled my eyes and finished the slice of toast, I picked up the third and Thor burst into the kitchen,  
'Good morning friends, I hope you all slept well' he went to the cupboard and grabbed some pop tarts, we all went back to what we were doing, 'you are all so gloomy, what is troubling you?' I put down my toast and smiled,  
'Nothing's wrong with me' my voice was chipper, even I was put off by the happiness in it,  
'There's tonnes wrong with her' I looked at Stark, he hadn't bothered looking away from his nearly finished coffee machine,  
'Tony' Steve gave him a look and he shrugged,  
'Just saying what people are thinking'  
'Actually Tasha and I were wondering how you felt about hitting on your own daughter' Barton gave a cocky grin, I shook my head and picked up my toast again, I didn't really want this slice, I was being optimistic when I made it,  
'Shut up Barton. I didn't know at the time, you would think she would have said something'  
'Actually Tony, she did tell you to stop on many occasions' Tony glared at Steve,  
'And she told you that you'd regret it' Barton laughed, 'and man was she right' Tony grabbed his coffee and took a sip,  
'I want to know why she's here, I don't believe she just wants to be part of the team, people always want something' he glared at me, I threw my toast at him and stood up. He swore as some of his coffee spilt down his front, I stormed towards the door,  
'I'm going out, I'll be back this evening. Don't send a stupid search party if I don't' I kicked the door open and walked to the lift. I heard some arguing in the kitchen as I waited for the lift, as it arrived the kitchen door opened and Steve came out,  
'Wait up, I'm coming with you' I got in the lift and pushed the button, the doors started closing and he ran, he just got in before it shut,  
'I don't need a babysitter' I leant against the back of the lift,  
'I know, I just wanted to come with you' I stared at the doors, the silence between us was stifling but I was just too angry to be polite, 'You dented the door' I nodded,  
'Probably' the lift stopped and a Stark employee got in, a few floors down he got out and Steve turned to me,  
'Why did you storm out?'  
'I can't stop you coming with me, but I am not talking about this' the lift stopped and I walked out, Steve grabbed my arm, 'Let me go!' I yanked my arm away but he held tight, it felt like I was trying to rip my shoulder from my socket, he released his grip,  
'Look, if you want to get away from the tower you aren't going to get that far by foot. I'll take you somewhere on my bike' he started walking the other direction, I looked to the door, then followed him. We got to the garage and he passed me his helmet,  
'You need that, one second' I gave it back to him, and walked over to another bike and took the helmet,  
'You haven't asked to borrow that' I shrugged,  
'I could put it back and not use one if you would prefer' he frowned, obviously fighting a moral dilemma, I smiled as I put it on, 'well then, lets go shall we' we got on the bike and I grabbed the back of his t-shirt. It roared into life and we headed out the tower, we rode for five minutes through the streets, always moving away from the tower. He pulled over and turned around,  
'Is there anywhere in particular you would like to go?' I shrugged,  
'Anywhere that has little to no people' he nodded and started moving again.  
Twenty minutes later we were sitting on a park bench,  
'I used to come here when I was a kid, it's changed a bit but not much' I nodded,  
'Do you miss it?'  
'Of course, but I can't get it back so I focus on what I've got now'  
'Does that help?' he shrugged,  
'Most of the time, sometimes it makes it harder. It reminds me of everyone I lost when I woke up, and of how much has changed' he sighed, 'the technological advances are so mind boggling sometimes, I just can't wrap my head round them' I rubbed at my wrist then looked at him,  
'I guess finding out I've got it built in was a big shock' he laughed,  
'I was surprised, but considering Tony has that thing in his chest, I found it easy to come to terms with it' a couple of runners went past. 'Did it hurt to get them… put in?'  
'Yeah, especially the top spinal one' he looked at me questioningly,  
'How many do you have?' I thought for a second,  
'Ten, six down the spine, both wrists and ankles'  
'Why'd you get so many if they hurt?' I looked him in the eyes, I was so tempted to lie but his blue eyes were so hard to lie to,  
'I was approached by a guy, he wanted me to create something that would allow a human to be able to manipulate technology with their mind, and he wanted them to be small. I designed the chips, he was rather impressed, until he tried actually attaching them to some of his minions -as he called them- He came after me and accused me of scamming him, which I found quite funny, because I didn't start scamming the bad guys until after him' I giggled,  
'Why'd you start scamming people?'  
'I'm getting to that. Anyway he accused me of trying to kill him with my technology, said that a fitting punishment would be to give me the chips. He tied me to the table and got his guys to start attaching them, he didn't give me any painkillers, he put the ankle and wrist ones in first, then started with the bottom of the spinal chips. By the time he put the top one in I had nearly passed out due to lack of blood. He left me in the warehouse, tied to the table, dying. He didn't expect me to survive, the look of surprise on his face when a few months later I was standing over his beaten body, it made all the pain worth it when I watched the pain growing in his eyes' he stared at me,  
'Did you..?' I shook my head,  
'I didn't kill him, I just didn't help him. But him double crossing me made me realise you really can't trust anyone, hence I started scamming people' he grabbed my wrist and turned it over to look at it, there was a small scar, only visible if you were really looking for it,  
'So, you got your's in a similar way to Tony?' I pulled my hand away,  
'NO. He has his to keep him alive after he was kidnapped. Mine is because I was too trusting, and I don't rely on my technology' I hissed,  
'Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you' I folded my arms and stared at some birds, 'Why did you get angry at what Tony said?' I closed my eyes, wishing I was on my own, he nudged me and I looked at him,  
'It isn't important'  
'Is it because he thinks you want something?'  
'I just wanted to be part of the team, no one was supposed to find out about who I was. Now they're all going to treat me differently, it started with Stark and you're all going to follow suit. He's going to convince you I'm only there to get something out of him and to be honest I want nothing from that man. I don't need anything from him' he put his arm round my shoulder and pulled me against him,  
'No one's going to treat you differently. Tony's just shocked, he found out he has a kid and he has some stuff to go through, he's probably over thinking things, like he always does' I nodded,  
'I get that suddenly finding out you've got a twenty year old child is big, but did he really think that after all the people he's slept with not one of them had a child?' we sat in silence for a while, watching as people passed through the park.  
Steve's phone started ringing, he quickly pulled it out,  
'Hello. JARVIS?…What do you mean?…LOKI!' he jumped up and put his phone away, 'We've got to get back' he grabbed my hand and we ran back to the bike,  
'What's happened?'  
'Loki turned up, he's attacking Tony' we raced through the streets, I gripped onto Steve tightly as we flew round the corners, as we got to the tower we could see flashes of blue from the balcony, and the odd flash of red and gold.


	17. Chapter 17

We jumped off the bike and ran for the lift,  
'You aren't going up there, you don't have any of your gadgets, you'll be an easy target' I frowned,  
'I can handle myself'  
'Loki isn't your average bad guy, he's a god. You wouldn't stand a chance against him' the lift opened and Steve got in blocking me from following, 'Stay here' the door shut and I ran to the stairs. I was more capable than he thought.  
I had ran up ten flights of stairs and I was going too slow, I ran through the door and went straight to the lift and called it down, the wait was painstaking and as soon as it go here I ran in and pushed the button repeatedly. As the lift ascended I caught my breath, when it finally stopped I ran out and saw the team standing between Loki and Stark, I walked over to them,  
'Get out of my way mortals! Give me Stark and you shall not be harmed!' Thor stepped forward,  
'What is the meaning of this brother?' I walked over to Iron Man and stood next to him, Loki looked at me and smiled,  
'That, dear brother -he drawled the word- is none of your business' I grabbed Stark and threw him into Thor, they landed in a heap at Loki's feet, I walked forward as the team stared in shock, Stark went to get up and I jumped on his back and smacked his head into the ground, the face plate of his suit denting slightly,  
'K! What..?' I looked over at Steve and bit my lip, Loki came and helped me up, I hugged him,  
'Father, it's been too long' I let go of him,  
'That it has, but you did just as I asked I see' I smiled proudly. Thor got up and stared at us, Loki grabbed the suit and pulled him off the floor, 'I do hope you haven't killed him in your haste' I scanned the suit and it's occupant,  
'He's alive, just unconscious. His helmet is ruined though' I saw the arrow just before Loki caught it and looked at Barton, he tutted as he threw it aside,  
'Such a pathetic excuse for heroes, you can't even protect your own' Mjolnir came at him and I threw my hand out, it went off course and hit the back of Starks suit, I glared at them all,  
'Stop attacking and this will be over quickly' Steve slowly walked towards us, we took a few step backwards, the edge stopping our retreat. I glanced at Loki and he dangled the suit over the edge, Steve stopped and put his hands out,  
'Lets just talk about this, just bring him back over the balcony' my father laughed,  
'You must be joking, you have nothing to bargain with and yet you stand there asking things of me' I looked over the edge,  
'Do you reckon he would wake up before he hit the ground?' everyone looked at me, I pulled off Starks face plate and threw it over the edge, 'or would he be as lifeless as his suit?' they could see blood running down his face,  
'K, stop this' I shook my head,  
'I made a promise Steve, and I won't break my promises. Not for anyone' the arrow ripped through my shoulder and I stepped backwards, my stomach lurched as I fell from the edge. I reached out and grabbed it, my shoulder in agony as I clung to the side, Loki stared at me in horror. He threw Stark on the balcony and pulled me up, he held me close as I gripped my shoulder. Steve ran to Tony. Barton, Romanov and Thor surrounded us, I started laughing uncontrollably, the shaking hurting my shoulder but I just laughed,  
'Nothing ever goes to plan around here. Not even something so simple as taking down Stark' I started standing and felt a gun against the back of my head,  
'Don't move' the Russian accent was stronger than it had been in a while, I sat back down and started massaging my slowly healing shoulder. Loki stood up, ignoring the weapons pointed at him, he grabbed my uninjured arm and pulled me up beside him. I saw Stark being helped up by Steve, I watched as Stark batted away Steve as he tried to help him walk,  
'What the hell happened?' Steve looked at me and I looked down at my feet,  
'K knocked you out. She was working with Loki the whole time' Stark boots appeared in my line of sight, I looked him straight in the eyes, he turned to look at Loki,  
'When the hell did you two meet?' Loki put his hand on my shoulder,  
'She is my daughter' Stark looked at me,  
'I knew you were lying!' I glared at him,  
'What are we going to do with them?' Romanov nudged the gun against my head, Thor spoke up,  
'They are to come to Asgard and be punished' I closed my eyes, Loki gripped my shoulder,  
'We are not returning to Asgard'  
'You have caused trouble brother, you must answer for what you have done to the man of iron' I started to shake as the realisation of what was going to happen dawned on me,  
'She will not be shown leniency there, and she will not survive Asgardian punishment. Would you really take her to her death?' I felt the tear escape and I quickly wiped it away,  
'Leave her here, we will take care of her punishment' I opened my eyes at Steve's voice, I could see the betrayal in his eyes, I shook my head,  
'I will face my punishment on Asgard. I knew the risks when I agreed to help my father' Thor nodded,  
'I shall ask for leniency, but it will be the All-Fathers decision' I looked back at the floor,  
'Let us go with you, we can appeal for leniency'  
'WHAT?! Steve she helped try and kill me!'  
'I know, but I will not send someone to their death. It's not right!'  
'I'm sorry my friends but you will not be heard by my father, I am not able to take you to Asgard' Thor grabbed Loki and I, 'with the bifrost not fully repaired those not of Asgard cannot travel to it. I shall return with news of their punishments' a wind kicked up around us, I looked up at Steve quickly then turned away, the look in his eyes too painful to look at.


	18. Chapter 18

Loki and I were kneeling before Odin, Frigga stood next to him looking forlornly at us, I could feel myself shaking as I awaited the punishment that would befall me,  
'Loki Odinson, this is not the first time you have been before me due to crimes against the Midgardians. I feel my previous leniency may have helped result in this'  
'I learned my lesson from my previous punishment, this was an action I took in anger. I deeply regret my decision and ask you for leniency..'  
'You have been brought afore me again and you would ask for leniency once more, do you think me a fool Loki?' Loki bowed his head,  
'I ask for leniency not for me, but for my child. She only did as I requested, and if she were to face certain punishments it is unlikely she would survive' Odin turned his eye upon me,  
'Is what he says true? Are you really his child?' I nodded, 'and what do you say about being brought before me?' I felt my voice quiver,  
'I-I humbly ask that you do not p-punish my father. His actions were that of anger for he was insulted at the h-hands of a Midgardian, I was of clear mind when I acted. The majority of the plan was of my making..' Odin raised his hand and I stopped talking,  
'You have both shown fault and asked for leniency for the other. You have also both claimed to be the mastermind behind the crimes, meaning that one of you is lying.' he glared down at us both, 'You shall both receive thirty lashings each day for seven days, your mouths will be sown shut so neither are able to lie, and it will not be undone until you have an important truth to speak' he went to get up and Loki grabbed my hand as I started shaking violently,  
'I beg you, allow me to take her punishment, she will not be able to survive the lashings'  
'MY WORD IS FINAL! If she is your child as you claim, then she will bear her punishment'  
'She is only half mine, she is part Midgardian. Please, Father, let me take her lashings' Frigga walked forward and whispered to Odin, she smiled at me as she stepped back,  
'In light of parentage and that this is the first crime of which she has been found guilty of, she shall not receive lashings, however she shall have another stipulation upon her thread, she must repay all those she harmed with her actions' Odin stood up and left the room. Frigga came over as Loki stood and pulled him into a hug, I stayed kneeling on the floor as it sunk in that I would have to face Steve again,  
'You are foolish Loki, what if your father had given you her punishment?'  
'I would have taken it' I stood up as Frigga let him go,  
'You shouldn't have offered father, I would rather the lashings than right my wrongs'  
'There was no guarantee you would survive'  
'The punishment has been set, let us talk of it no longer. Are you going to introduce me to your child?' she smiled at me.


	19. Chapter 19

I had been on Asgard for eight days, it was my fathers last day of lashings and I stood in his chamber waiting for him to return. I had spent the majority of my time in the library reading many of the books on magic, practicing and learning new skills, advancing quickly as my father taught me. Each evening I would be requested to attend the feast alongside my father, each evening I refused.  
I looked into the mirror, the gold thread weaving my mouth shut, I turned away to see Loki enter the chamber, he limped to the chair and I took the bowl of water and sponge over to him. I sat next to him as he laid on his front, the wounds this time were deeper and his magic was already working at fixing them, I gently started wiping at them, he kept his eyes shut the whole time. When I finished cleaning his wounds I held my hands above his back and concentrated, the wounds started closing faster but not much faster, I helped him for an hour, all that remained were faint lines littering his back. He sat up and looked at me, his thread stopping him from saying his thanks, I nodded and went to get rid of the water when Thor bound into the chamber,  
'Brother, how fair you this day?' I watched as Loki glared at him, Thor's smile faltered, 'I have come to take Kayleigh back to Midgard' I dropped the bowl, the sound of it smashing filling the chamber, they both looked at me, I flicked my hand at the mess and it disappeared, I walked over to Loki and grabbed his arm, burying my face in his shoulder, 'You must return and fulfil your punishment' I shook my head and pulled Loki back from Thor. 'You will be going. We are to go in a short time, the All-father has decreed as such' I put my hand to Loki's head, and concentrated on him hearing my question,  
'Can you come with me?' he looked at Thor, after a while Thor looked at me, pity in his eyes,  
'That decision rests with Odin' I nodded, 'you have been asked to join the feast this evening' I shook my head. Loki grabbed my face and made me look at him,  
'It would help if you attended the feast. He may be persuaded to allow me to go with you, he does not have any reason to allow our request.'  
'But I can not eat, I have no reason to attend a feast'  
'I have made your excuses for the prior feasts but you shall attend this one' I shook my head, 'you will do as I say, it may be the last we see of each other for a long time' I pulled away from him, and nodded to Thor, he pulled me into a bone crushing hug,  
'This is wonderful news, I shall inform mother of your attendance' he put me down and clapped Loki on the shoulder, 'I shall ask Odin to allow you to accompany her' he walked away,  
'We should sort out your Asgardian clothing' he kissed the top of my head, 'you made a wise decision' I nodded.  
I entered the feast, people watched as I walked up to the head table, wearing very similar attire to my father but without the green. As I approached the table they all went silent, I stopped and bowed my head, Odin nodded his head and I took a seat between Thor and Loki, the conversations started up again as Odin continued eating. I stared at my empty plate as everybody spoke around me, my father sat listening to Thor tell Odin of his visit to Midgard,  
'Put some food on your plate' I looked at Loki,  
'But I cannot eat it' he frowned and put some meat and bread on my plate,  
'It is impolite to keep an empty plate' I turned back to my plate. Thor finished speaking of his visit with the Avengers and Loki tapped my shoulder, I jumped and looked at him, he nodded to Odin and I turned to see him looking intently at me, I flinched,  
'My son informs me that you wish Loki to return to Midgard with you' I nodded, he stared at me in silence for a long time, I looked back down at my plate as I waited for him to deny me. Loki nudged me and I looked back up,  
'He made a bargain on your behalf, and your request is granted on one condition' he looked at us both, 'if either intend any harm or inflict an injury upon a Midgardian you shall be returned here for punishment, and no leniency shall be given' his gaze landed back on me, 'no matter what the circumstances' I nodded, he smiled, 'Now smile, a feast is a jovial thing' I raised the corners of my mouth, the thread tugging at my lips. Frigga smiled at me and I looked to Thor as he recounted another tale of his time on Midgard, as he started talking of Steve I looked down at my plate,  
'Are you okay?' I shook my head,  
'I want to leave'  
'We will return to Midgard after the feast'  
'I want to leave the feast'  
'Is everything okay?' I looked at Frigga, her eyes were filled with worry, I looked to the door then back at her, she glanced to Odin then stood, the room fell quiet, she bent down and whispered to him. He looked to me then nodded, she walked around the table and stood behind me, 'Lets go for a walk, shall we?' I got up, bowed to Odin and followed her from the room, the conversation starting up again as we were out of sight.  
I followed her to a garden where she sat on a bench, she patted the seat next to her and I took it,  
'So you miss your home?' I looked to the floor, I did but I didn't want to return, nor did I want to remain here, but here is away from Steve, and the betrayal,  
'Such sadness, you shall be returning soon. Your friends will be awaiting your arrival' I shook my head, 'Thor tells me they have been preparing for many a day now, you have been much missed' I quickly touched my mouth then shook my head, 'they will forgive you. Now tell me, your mother, is she like you?' I shook my head, I am definitely not like Stark, well not totally, 'you have her eyes, they are pretty' I quickly stood up and bowed my head, 'I did not intend to offend you' I shook my head and pointed to Thor and Loki who had come round the corner, she nodded and stood, 'My sons, has the feast ended so soon?'  
'Father said it be best if we leave now'  
'Of course, be sure to return soon' she looked at us all in turn, 'each of you. I cannot wait to be able to see you again' she hugged Thor and Loki, then went to hug me and I stepped back shaking my head, she frowned, 'why not?' she looked at Loki then gave a nod of understanding, 'very well, then I shall return to the feast' she smiled as she left us all standing there watching her walk away. Thor frowned at me,  
'That was very rude, why would you not hug her?' I glared at him, Loki waved his hand in dismissal and started walking, I followed him, ignoring Thor throwing questioning glances, 'I'm just saying brother, it is unusual to deny such a thing'  
'I would much appreciate if you stopped talking about this' I gave Loki a pointed look and he nodded. We reached the near finished bifrost, Hiemdahl looked at us all,  
'I will be keeping a close eye on the two of you. If you act against your punishment may Odin be merciful' he opened the bifrost, 'I shall return you to where the Midgardians await your arrival'  
'Thank you Hiemdahl.'


	20. Chapter 20

It felt like I was just shot from a cannon, I fell to the ground and felt the sand beneath my hands, I quickly got up and looked around. We were standing in a desert surrounded by SHIELD agents, a few stepped forwards with cuffs, father and I held our arms out as they put them on us. We followed us they walked us onto the jet, Fury stood inside glaring at us. We were sat at opposite ends, Fury came over to me,  
'Not so arrogant this time' I went to head butt him and he stepped back, Thor grabbed my shoulder and shook his head at me,  
'Remember your punishment child, I risked much getting you here' I rolled my eyes and slumped back in my seat, I could see father looking down to me, the corner of his mouth raised in a sly grin, I went to smile back but my threads tugged at my lips causing me to cover my mouth in pain, Fury went over to Loki and I shut my eyes, focusing on the sounds of the jet as it started up.  
I awoke as the jet started descending, I looked around and saw that a few agents were watching me intently, I winked at them and shook my cuffs, they all looked away, I looked to Loki and saw him watching Fury like a hawk. As the wheels touched the ground I tried to turn and look out the window, somebody grabbed my face and forced me to look forwards, they unstrapped me and pulled my cuffs forcing me to stand,  
'Careful' Thor grabbed the agent, 'She is not to be mistreated by your hand' the agent snorted,  
'What's she gonna do? She can't hurt us' I yanked my cuffs and he stumbled towards me releasing his grip, I grabbed him by the throat and glared at him as I applied slight pressure. I quickly released him and stepped away slightly,  
'She is of Asgard, do not underestimate her abilities, it would not do you well'  
'Enough of this, get her off the jet and into the van' I was marched of the jet, past my father who nodded appreciatively at me,  
'Impressive, just remember we are not to hurt anyone' I nodded as I stepped of the edge of the ramp.  
I felt my face pale as I caught sight of the Captain and the assassins standing by two vans, I tried to stop walking but was shoved towards them, I looked down to hide my mouth from them,  
'Friends, it is wonderful to see you again.' Thor went and shook Steve and Barton's hand then looked around, 'Where is the man of iron?' I tried to look around while keeping my head down,  
'Just us big guy, Stark had some stuff to do'  
'Barton!' Fury's voice caused me to jump slightly as he stood right behind me, 'You and Rogers go with her, Thor and Natasha get Loki' someone grabbed my arm and marched me to a van, they pushed me in and Barton and Steve followed. I sat in the corner, Barton sat opposite and Steve sat near the doors.  
We had be travelling for a while when Barton kicked my foot, I nodded in acknowledgement but kept my head down,  
'Look up' I turned my head away slightly, 'Why wont you look up?' I tapped my hands against my legs, he kicked my foot again, 'You listening' I nodded slightly again, 'Then what's so fascinating about the floor?' I shrugged, 'So why look at it?' he leant forwards and grabbed my chin, I batted his hands away,  
'Clint, leave her alone' I closed my eyes as I heard his voice, it was cold and emotionless,  
'Don't you wanna know why she isn't looking up. It's gotta be interesting'  
'No, now drop it' I heard him lean back against the side of the van,  
'Can't believe you aren't even a little bit curious. It's gotta be something to do with her punishment, if it's Asgardian punishment which could be deadly, then what the heck would they have done to her face?' I covered my mouth looked up and glared at him before looking down again, keeping my hand over my mouth, 'What the hell are you hiding!?' I shook my head, 'What's wrong with your mouth?' I shook my head. He grabbed my arm and pulled, I dug my fingers into my cheek as my head was ripped up,  
'CLINT!' he let go of my arm, I stared at him with my mouth covered and raised an eyebrow,  
'Just show us what you're hiding, we're going to find out anyway, may as well tell us now' I shrugged, and moved my hand so I was only blocking my mouth from Steve's view,  
'OH MY GOD! Does that hurt?' I covered my mouth and gave him a disbelieving look,  
'What is it?' we both looked at Steve,  
'Nah, Cap. You don't wanna see that' he looked between us both, before looking at me, I looked past his shoulder to avoid looking him in the eye,  
'I think I do, I need to know what you reacted to' I went to take my hand away Barton clapped it back against my mouth,  
'Alright, but just remember it's her punishment for attempting to kill Tony' he pulled our hands away slowly. Steve's eyes widened as he saw the threads holding my mouth shut, I looked back down at the floor,  
'How do you eat?' I shook my head to say I didn't, 'When was it done?' I held up eight fingers quickly, the silence that followed was stifling.  
I made a tiny ball of green mist appear in my hand, I threw it back and forth between my hands, my eyes following it, every now and again I would make it go a different shape mid throw but always catch it as a ball,  
'When did you learn magic?' the mist ball disappeared as I looked up at Steve, I pointed to my mouth and his cheeks went a little red, 'Sorry, didn't think about that' I nodded and made the mist ball in my hand again, I threw it up in the air repeatedly, watching as it went. As the van stopped and the engine turned off I threw the ball and it vanished. The doors opened and Fury stood there looking at us, Steve got out, Barton pulled me up and led me out, we were in the Avenger tower garage, the other van was opened and the others got out,  
'Where the hell is Stark?' Fury looked over at a few agents, one stepped forward,  
'He went out in his suit sir. He was last located twelve clicks east from here'  
'I want him here as of five minutes ago. And I don't want to hear any excuses' a few agents disappeared off, 'Get them to their respective rooms and out of my sight' Steve nodded and the team took Loki and I to the lift. We all stood in the lift, Loki and myself being kept away from each other,  
'Should we tell them it's pointless keeping us separate?'  
'I see no reason to do so, if it were important Thor would most assuredly bring it up' I looked over at him and he raised an eyebrow at me, I hummed in agreement, everybody in the lift looked at me, I coughed then started humming lift music, Barton grinned before leaning over to Romanov,  
'She still could be Tony's, she's just as irritating in enclosed spaces' I frowned and started humming Call Me Maybe, everyone groaned, Romanov whacked Barton,  
'Just had to speak. If you think she's like Tony then she's going to do the same as him when you say something about him when he's around' I made the mist ball again, father glared at me and shook his head, it flew at him and stopped before it hit him, dissipating as he gave me a warning look,  
'Not in enclosed spaces, they may think you're threatening them'  
'I did it in the van, they didn't seem to care'  
'Look at their faces' I looked at them all, Thor seemed to be in his own little world, while the other three all stared at us, ready to take action at any moment, I held my hands up and shrugged.  
The lift stopped and it opened, we were on Steve's floor, he stepped out the lift and Romanov pushed me after him,  
'Sure you don't want help Steve?' he smiled,  
'I'm just putting her in her room, see you in a while' the lift doors closed and Steve started walking to my rooms door, he opened it and waited for me to follow him. I walked forwards and stopped in the door way, I attempted to smile at him, ignoring the pain as the threads tried to rip through my lips, he unlocked my cuffs and looked at me, the lack of expression on his face was painful to look at. I turned and went into my room, he shut the door behind me, I went and sat on the bed, taking in the silence of the building.


	21. Chapter 21

I woke to a knocking on the door; I sat up and stared at it. Any of them could be on the other side, there was another knock,

"Get up!" I rolled my eyes at Barton's voice, "I'll be back in ten minutes" I threw my head back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling. I had just finished pulling on my shirt when there was a knock at the door; I walked over and opened it, Barton looked at me before turning round,

"Come on, you're expected in the conference room" I followed him to the lift. The ride was silent and I stared at the back of his head as the lift ascended. When the doors opened he led me down the corridor to the conference room, we stepped inside and he pointed me to the chair at the end that had a few agents standing nearby. Fury stood at the head of the table, the avengers all seated around the table, I looked around the table again but couldn't see Loki,

"Now we're all here we can begin" I tapped my hand against the table to get their attention, they all turned to me. I thought for a second then raised my hands to make horns then shrugged my shoulders, they all stared at me like I was crazy, I pointed to Thor then myself then rose my hands as though I had just asked a question. Banner looked around the table at everyone then back at me,

"Oh, she's asking where Loki is" everyone made a face of understanding then turned back to Fury as though I hadn't interrupted, I smacked the table again and frowned in confusion, they all ignored me again,

"Thor has told us all about the Asgardian punishment; even though she isn't to attack any one he can't ensure your safety. It's up to you to decide if you want her to stay at the tower or if you want her in SHIELD custody. Personally I don't trust her, never have, and I suggest you hand her over to me" they sat in silence, whether they were waiting for him to carry on talking or if they were deciding was unclear as all their backs were to me. Thor finally broke the silence,

"If you lock her away how is she to complete her punishment, she would give her word not to harm anyone, and if she does she is to return to Asgard and face further punishment" Stark looked to him,

"Do you trust her word, you didn't know about her before she turned up. How do you know she can be trusted?" Barton and Romanoff gave murmurs of agreement,

"You heard her on the balcony, she said it then, she never breaks her promises" Steve's voice was almost mechanical in what he said,

"She can't talk, how can she make a promise?" Stark almost hissed the question before throwing a glare at me,

"She can write it down" Steve looked back at Thor, "but if she were to stay with us, how is she supposed to complete her punishment?"

"Father said she is to repay those she harmed; I would guess she would need to help the team" Steve nodded then sat back as though he had all the information he needed. Banner coughed,

"How do we know what she said on the balcony was true?"

"We don't, we can't trust anything she has said or done whilst she has been here" Stark looked at me, "I say we let Fury take her" I stood up and two agents grabbed my shoulders, I didn't try to fight them I just pointed at Thor. They all looked at me confused, I motioned for Thor to come down the table, he got up and walked over, as he drew closer I grabbed his forearm and slowly reached my hand to his head as though asking his permission. Everyone stared as he nodded and I lightly touched my fingers against his temple,

**"Tell them I'll promise it, I'll write it down"**

"She says she'll write down her promise" Stark snorted in derision, I stopped myself from shooting a dirty look at him, instead I looked at him as I told Thor my message,

**"I will do whatever they require to satisfy them that I'll keep my promise, any punishment they see fit to give me, I'll take it to prove I mean what I'm saying"** I let go of Thor and sat back down, folded my arms and stared at the table,

"She says she'll do whatever you want to prove she'll keep her promise, and if you decide to punish her she won't fight against it" he stayed stood next to me. Silence fell over the room for a while; they all sat looking at me as I stared at the table, trying to ignore their gaze. I tugged at Thor's arm and he bent down, I touched his temple,

**"I'll go into SHIELD custody, this is obviously where it's heading"** Thor shook his head and grabbed my hand'

"It's not your choice, the team has to decide"

"What did she say?" Barton ignored me and looked straight to Thor,

"She offered to go with Fury, she believes that is going to be your choice" I stood up and walked past the table towards Fury, stopping next to him and holding my hands out to be cuffed.


	22. Chapter 22

None of them said anything as I felt the metal clasp round my wrists, Thor just stood frozen on the spot, staring at me like I had lost it. It was as though a bomb had gone off; all of them started talking at once, none of them decipherable. They could have been agreeing with what I'd done or they were saying I should stay, none of it made a difference as a couple of agents came over and grabbed me by the arms and started to walk me to the door,

"WAIT!" everyone stopped and looked at Thor, "We never decided this"

"We haven't decided anything, maybe its best if she goes with them until we make a decision" Thor looked at Steve,

"So this is your decision, you would have her locked away. You would give her no chance to right her wrongs?"

"We need time to think about this, we have to decide if we are able to trust her again. It takes longer than a few minutes to make this choice Thor" Steve looked at me, "it's not something to decide lightly, the wrong choice could be dangerous for the team"

"Then keep her here until you decide. Keep the handcuffs on her; just don't send her away until you make your choice"

"We could keep her in her room until we decide" Banner looked to Steve, "I can see where he's coming from, by sending her to SHIELD it's like saying we've chosen what we want to do"

"It's Tony's building, he makes the call" everyone looked to Stark,

"I'm not having her stay here until we feel we want to try and trust her" the agents carried on leading me from the room; I heard Thor start arguing with Stark before the door shut behind me. In the lift down to the garage I could feel the agents eyes on me each time a Stark employee entered, they normally left the lift after a couple of floors having stared at my sewn mouth in what they thought was a subtle manner.

They walked me to a van and placed me in the back, a few sat in with me, their guns pointed at me. I stared at one of them for the entire journey, enjoying watching him squirm under my gaze. At first he ignored my staring, then I saw it starting to bug him, he tried looking away to see if I would and then shifted slightly in his seat as he looked back at me. His relief was evident in the slight sigh he released when the van stopped, the doors opened and he immediately jumped out. I stepped out and rolled my eyes as I saw the jet, they lead me on to it and stuck me in one of the seats, I lifted my arms as one of them strapped me in, he looked slightly nervous at being so close.

The jet stayed on the ground, agents standing along the open ramp. After half an hour I heard a car engine, a few minutes later it had stopped and Fury was walking up the ramp,

"Are we clear to get in the air?" he sat in the chair opposite me and strapped in, the agents all moved quickly, some of them staying on the jet, the others running down the ramp and leaving before it closed. The jet engines started up and we started moving, Fury glared at me as I sat and watched the agents interact with each other, all of them keeping their voices at a whisper. I looked back at Fury and brought my hands up to my head and made the horn gesture again,

"You and Loki are being kept separate until such a time that neither of you are seen as a threat" I rattled my handcuffs at him and gestured around at the agents,

"We underestimated you before, just because you are in chains does not mean you are not a threat. We can't even begin to know what you're capable of. You've already shown intelligence that could rival Tony Starks, combat training of a dangerous level and you have shown impressive strength and resilience. It's only prudent we assume you have just as much talent as Loki" I shrugged my shoulders in understanding.

He watched me for the remainder of the journey, every now and again giving orders to people through his earpiece. Every now and again I would make his earpiece crackle, after the first couple of times when he threw a fit and I would shake a little with laughter he stopped reacting, instead he just threw me a one eyed glare. I got a reaction when I temporarily cut the power to the engines and didn't let the pilot get them back on for a few seconds. It took them a while to realise there wasn't a fault with the jet, what probably helped them was me shaking uncontrollably with tears in my eyes at the look of fear in some of the agents eyes. His face was right in front of mine as he yelled obscenities at me for the joke; I just looked back at him bored before rolling my eyes and leaning my head back in the seat.


End file.
